Footage from 2022 military exercise misrepresented amid Middle East war | Fact Check

AFP Fact Check published on March 9, 2026, by Bill McCARTHY (AFP USA) reports that a video circulating on social platforms was misrepresented as showing an Iranian strike pummeling a U.S. naval ship in the Indian Ocean while it was refueling.

“Skip to main content Iran Share: Footage from 2022 military exercise misrepresented amid Middle East war Published on March 9, 2026 at 16:46 By Bill MCCARTHY, AFP USA A video is spreading across platforms with claims it shows an Iranian strike pummeling a US naval ship as it was refueling in the Indian Ocean”

Factcheck

The post making that claim came from the account "@SilentlySirs," which AFP says it has repeatedly fact-checked for spreading disinformation.

AFP found the clip actually shows the sinking of a decommissioned U.S. vessel near the state of Hawaii during a 2022 maritime warfare exercise involving the United States, Australia, Canada and Malaysia.

AFP describes the clip as an aerial view of a blast hitting a boat that triggers a fiery explosion and a giant plume of smoke.

Reverse image searches uncovered the same footage in other sources, and further keyword searches located the material on the U.S. military's Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS).

“Skip to main content Iran Share: Footage from 2022 military exercise misrepresented amid Middle East war Published on March 9, 2026 at 16:46 By Bill MCCARTHY, AFP USA A video is spreading across platforms with claims it shows an Iranian strike pummeling a US naval ship as it was refueling in the Indian Ocean”

Factcheck

The article notes that RIMPAC is an international maritime exercise involving nearly 30 partner nations, providing context for the 2022 exercise.

AFP warns that old footage like this has been repeatedly repurposed and misrepresented amid the Middle East war.

“Skip to main content Iran Share: Footage from 2022 military exercise misrepresented amid Middle East war Published on March 9, 2026 at 16:46 By Bill MCCARTHY, AFP USA A video is spreading across platforms with claims it shows an Iranian strike pummeling a US naval ship as it was refueling in the Indian Ocean”

Factcheck

The fact check emphasizes that the viral posts' claim—that the footage showed an IRGC attack on a U.S. destroyer in the Indian Ocean—does not match the provenance AFP traced to the 2022 exercise.

AFP also traced the material to DVIDS-hosted content.